Born in Czechoslovakia, but at a later age naturalized as an Englishwoman, Vera Spencer initially painted in an expressionist style, under the influence of her teacher Oskar Kokoschka. Her first abstract works date from 1950, in which she mainly used the collage technique. At the age of ten she moved to Great Britain, where she later studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Vera Spencer participated in group exhibitions in England, France and New York, and had a solo exhibition in Paris in 1952.